Note from the editor:
This month, a policy change pushed by the Trump administration will result in the loss of health care coverage for hundreds of New Jerseyans who came to this country as children and now have permanent resident status.
The June-approved rule change will prevent immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program from accessing coverage they have previously purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplace or from purchasing new health insurance. The regulation will take effect on August 25.
According to the state Department of Banking and Insurance, that will immediately affect about 500 DACA recipients, sometimes referred to as Dreamers, who purchased health insurance on the state’s ACA marketplace, Get Covered NJ.
According to the most recent statistics available, the 2020 annual report from the New Jersey Office of New Americans, it also removes this health care coverage option for over 16,000 other Dreamers residing in New Jersey.
In one of the first of many lawsuits he filed or joined to challenge Trump administration policy decisions, State Attorney General Matt Platkin is leading a group of 14 states in contesting the rule’s effects on DACA recipients. According to his office, the issue has not yet been resolved.
Since America is the only nation they have ever known, dreamers play a vital role in the New Jersey community. In a press release announcing the complaint, Platkin stated that denying Dreamers access to healthcare not only impacts them and their American children, but also states like New Jersey.
One among many changes to federal policy
Eliminating coverage for Dreamers is one of several federal policy changes that experts say will increase the ranks of the uninsured here and nationwide, particularly among low-income and people of color, even though the number of New Jersey residents directly affected by this change is relatively small.
They point to the Trump administration’s cuts to financing for healthcare facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, as well as its defunding of long-standing social assistance programs that give people access to food, education, childcare, and other essentials. President Donald Trump signed a major tax cut and budget reduction measure on July 4 that includes many of these cuts.
Overall, New Jersey may have to pay up to $3.3 billion a year in hospital assistance in the years to come as a result of the Trump administration’s proposed changes to Medicaid, the state and federally financed insurance program for low-income Americans. Up to 350,000 state residents may also be forced out of the plan as a result of such changes, according to the state Department of Human Services. 1.85 million people in New Jersey are currently covered by the program, which is run locally under the name NJ Family Care.
According to the state Department of Banking and Insurance, other provisions of the new law will make it more difficult for those who earn more than the Medicaid income restrictions but do not have insurance through their jobs to buy policies on the Get Covered marketplace.Additionally, the agency announced that the majority of the 513,000 individuals currently covered by these Obamacare plans will see their premium costs doubled. According to a department analysis, certain people may see their plan costs increase significantly. For example, a couple in their 60s living in Bergen County may have their premiums increase by about 400% the following year, or an additional $20,000.
Target of Medicaid cuts?
The first people targeted by Medicaid’s reduction are immigrants, including certain legal immigrant groups. According to state Medicaid authorities, up to 25,000 New Jersey residents, including immigrants and victims of human trafficking or domestic abuse, will no longer be eligible for NJ Family Care, the state’s Medicaid program, by October 2026.
According to the Office of New Americans, over 2 million immigrants call New Jersey home, and over three-quarters of them are legally recognized. This includes about 52,000 individuals who qualify for DACA, a program implemented under President Barack Obama that gave legal status to citizens who were brought to the country as minors by parents who entered the country illegally before a specific date and without the required documentation.
As of its 2020 report, 16,350 of these prospective Dreamers had applied for DACA protection.
These are our coworkers, friends, and neighbors. In the news release announcing Platkin’s complaint, state Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman stated that since they are New Jerseyans who make cultural and economic contributions to our state, they should have the same rights as all other New Jerseyans to obtain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Nonprofit groups that collaborate with the state to assist individuals in getting covered or enrolling in Medicaid According to NJ, as outreach has increased in recent years, so has interest in these initiatives. According to Laura Waddell, health care director for New Jersey Citizen Action, one of the organizations that collaborates with the state on these initiatives, individuals are still unsure of how the changes will affect their coverage.
Waddell told NJ Spotlight News that while these organizations are beginning to spread awareness of the new policies, the news for Dreamers is especially bad. According to her, DACA recipients were only able to receive the health coverage in October of last year.
According to Waddell, they won’t even let them finish the year. They aren’t even covered for a whole year.
